At a time when one in every six Americans don't always know where their next meal is coming from, 40% of the food we produce is being wasted. Why? What does it mean for the environment? What can be done?

FROM THIS EPISODE

At a time when one in every 6 Americans don't always know where their next meal is coming from, 40% of the food we produce is being wasted. We hear how that happens up and down the food chain, what it means for the environment and what can be done. Also, European allies react to US spying revelations. On Today's Talking Point, Hollywood has long been accused of sugar-coating the worst of American history. Is 12 Years a Slave a reality check? Are moviegoers ready?

One revelation from Edward Snowden was that the National Security Agency tapped the personal phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Today, leaders of the European Union finished a two-day meeting, where American spying overshadowed economic concerns. President of the European Council, Van Rompuy, echoed their concern that "the partnership must be based on respect and on trust, including as concerns the work and cooperation of secret services." Peter Spiegel is Brussels Bureau Chief for Britain's Financial Times.

America's ability to produce food is one of the major achievements of modern science and industry. It's almost too successful, as no less than 40% -- almost half — is wasted. There's waste in farming, transportation, processing and distribution. But the most wasteful place of all is the American home. Do you understand what those "sell by" or "use by" or "best by" dates really mean? Probably not, because the answer is different in different places. We hear what can be done to waste less up and down the food chain at a time when one in six Americans don't have enough to eat.

Last year, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained graphically depicted the brutality of American slavery, but almost in comic book form. Now comes, 12 Years a Slave, based on the autobiography of a free black man who was tricked into servitude. Has Hollywood caught up with history? Brenda Stevenson, Professor of History at UCLA and author of The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins, is a student of family life of slaves in the South. Salamishah Tillet, Associate Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, is author of Sites of Slavery.